tag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978Off the prompt "cuddles." Warnings for character death.jmtorres2013-11-11T17:26:37Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1726052so that's awesome2013-11-11T17:26:37Z2013-11-11T17:26:37Zpublic3My laptop charger cord has the bullshit thing where it's constantly trying to pull out of its casing right (mac users ja feel me) and I tried to prod it back in as usual and it visibly sparked and is now no longer fuctional<br /><br />standard oeprating procedure in effect: order replacement from amazon, notify internet, close computer.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1726052" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1680709can't.... breathe....2011-12-04T10:48:31Z2011-12-04T10:48:31Zpublic3computer made hideous screeching noise, still not sure if it was mechanical or from the speakers, then spontaneously rebooted.<br /><br />It was not a long reboot, and everything came back up fine, but...<br /><br />...what?<br /><br />TERROR. I THINK TERROR IS APPROPRIATE.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1680709" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1587474found via boing boing2011-02-09T19:45:24Z2011-02-09T19:47:18Zpublic1<a href="http://projectmessiah.com/x6/shop.html">Pro animation software that usually runs $500-1200 currently selling for $10-$40</a> with the catch that the company has to hit the quota where this becomes financially viable before they hand out licenses (if they don't hit their mark, they will refund everyone). I figured, this would be a good tool to have in my kit, professionally and with some of the vidding ideas I've been contemplating trying lately, so I went ahead and dropped $40 on it.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1587474" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1543577I'm pretty sure this one's a bug.2010-10-19T19:47:07Z2010-10-19T19:47:07Zamusedpublic5I have just received a Festivids assignment!<br /><br />It contains 171 requests.<br /><br />(Bad dress, good open?)<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1543577" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1533881arts and crafts night at blue house:2010-09-26T05:42:09Z2010-09-26T05:42:45Zpublic1<span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://echan.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://echan.dreamwidth.org/'><b>echan</b></a></span>: making baby bells out of her jeans because she ripped them in motorcycle practice<br /><span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://jmtorres.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://jmtorres.dreamwidth.org/'><b>jmtorres</b></a></span>: converting standard keyboard to Final Cut keyboard<br /><span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://jecook.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://jecook.dreamwidth.org/'><b>jecook</b></a></span>: loading magazines<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1533881" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1532141insomnia2010-09-20T11:11:38Z2010-09-20T11:20:21Zpublic5It's four in the morning. What are YOU doing?<br /><br />Since waking up at 1:30am, I have:<br />--subscribed to someone on the strength of a Vorkosigan AU<br />--priced Final Cut keyboards<br />--decided that putting Final Cut stickers on the keyboard I use regularly would be a good way to go INSANE<br />--discovered from close examination of Final Cut keyboard images online a set of shortcuts I will probably integrate in my repertoire now (⌘+1, +2, +3, +4, +5 goes through Viewer, Canvas, Timeline, Browser, Favorites)<br />--priced Final Cut keyboards on ebay<br />--dredged up my ebay ID from the depths of the internet to bid on a Final Cut keyboard on ebay<br />--refused to be sucked into bidding wars on ebay<br />--checked local craigslist for Final Cut or easily mod-able keyboards<br />--figured while I was making wishlists, priced flight to DC at end of October ($400)<br />--contemplated moving my desk three feet to allow vidding from bed and cause me to make some further effort regarding organization in my room<br /><br />Wow I spent a lot of brainpower on that Final Cut keyboard issue. Uh.<br /><br />ETA: Apparently what I actually want is to apply <a href="http://www.logickeyboard.com/shop/apple-final-cut-1542p.html">keys, not stickers</a> to my standard issue NOT aluminum apple keyboard. If only it didn't cost $80.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1532141" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1521073the t00bz2010-08-27T18:08:02Z2010-08-27T19:42:14Zblahpublic2Upon discovering that the dispute I had filed with youtube over "500 Miles" had cleared, I was encouraged to continue uploading all my vids onto youtube. Next up: Long Spear.<br /><br />Long Spear also autotriggered the "no, you cannot use this music!" *headdesk*<br /><br />Dispute filed. <br /><br />Someone was asking me why many vidders choose not to upload to youtube. *cough*<br /><br />ETA: Huh. That was a REALLY fast turnaround on clearing the audio track on that vid. (Seriously, it was like, within five minutes.)<br /><br />Here is one thing that hacks me off about youtube: they don't send you a notice when the dispute is resolved/decided.<br /><br />ETA2: And here we go again for She Walks. Um, curiously, the vid became available again pretty much instantaneously upon my filing dispute. Weird.<br /><br />ETA3: And Long Spear is blocked again. I... really don't understand how their dispute process works and I REALLY wish there were subsequent notification emails explaining What Is Happening Now.<br /><br />ETA4: Right, took Long Spear back down. Mark that one off for a fail on the transformative work argument (reeeeaaaaally?).<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1521073" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1520848and jenny's down.2010-08-26T22:04:41Z2010-08-26T22:04:41Zpublic0But hey, three year warranty from Lacie, should be able to get her fixed or replaced. And I hadn't been using her for anything but a slut drive yet, so nothing on there not duplicated elsewhere.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1520848" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1519586helper apps2010-08-22T20:48:49Z2010-08-22T20:50:15Zpublic6Stuff other than Final Cut and Quicktime I use in the course of vidding on my mac (and forget the names of between vids sometimes)<br /><br />(most of these do way more than I do with it, yay multitools)<br /><br />--<a href="http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/14414/mactheripper">MacTheRipper</a>, for directly-off-the-dvd-minus-DRM rips (as opposed to transcodes)<br />--<a href="http://www.squared5.com/">MPEGStreamClip</a>--multipurpose, the two big things I do with it are fix broken timecode on DVD rip files (this is another form of DRM) and switch containers on final files for the interwebs (the free/trial DivX codec I use in Quicktime for my interwebs encodes pops out a .divx file, but I prefer to put that data in a .avi container, because that's like, fandom standard)<br />--<a href="http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/14246/xact">xACT</a>--converts .flac files to .aiffs or .wavs, which are more Final Cut friendly<br /><br />And then of course codec packs so Quicktime and therefore Final Cut will read .avi episode files the internet provides (and if I didn't have that particular neead I would just watch everything in <a href="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/">VLC</a>):<br />--<a href="http://perian.org/">Perian</a> (if you use mac's ichat videochat Perian interferes with it, but other than that is brilliant)<br />--<a href="http://www.divx.com/en/software/mac">DivX</a> for making fandom-friendly interwebs final vid files (from Quicktime, because for some reason it doesn't play nice directly with Final Cut, even though in theory Final Cut is built on and has all the capabilities of Quicktime)<br /><br />I am probably forgetting some things I use. There's something I don't need every time, like <a href="http://www.ffmpegx.com/">FFMpegX</a> was the app we used to get a semi-useable file out of a very old realmedia file for remaster last year (and <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://echan.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://echan.dreamwidth.org/'><b>echan</b></a></span>, if MpegStreamClip doesn't do what you want to your .flvs, you might try FFMpegX).<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1519586" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1517666running ragged2010-08-19T08:56:08Z2010-08-19T08:56:08Zpublic6I have been burning the candle at both ends, hit the ground running at six thirty in the morning, never off work on time because it's goddamn rush season, all week long. And it's only <strike>Wednesday</strike> Thursday, and my classes start tomorrow some four hours after I have to get up, and next week I am working until 9 every night per <em>schedule</em>. <br /><br />I keep thinking of entries I want to write and never being at a computer to write them. I want to write vidding meta. There was a entry in my head today about how vidders (ones I know anyway) choose songs, and how some songs are obvious to everyone and some are only obvious in retrospect once the brilliant vid is made. And I keep thinking about writing up some really basic Final Cut stuff, because things like markers OMG SO USEFUL yet news to some friends.<br /><br />Anyway, since I am failing at getting those entries started on my own, I would like to put it out there, is there any part of vidding as a process or my vids in particular that you would like me to talk about? I am now taking questions from the audience. <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://seperis.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://seperis.dreamwidth.org/'><b>seperis</b></a></span>, I am looking at you.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1517666" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1513861Action Safe and Title Safe2010-08-08T22:34:27Z2010-08-08T22:40:51Zpublic2Most modern vidders primarily release vids online, and if that's the only place you release, this probably doesn't apply to you. But if you ever release vids to be viewed on a television screen (like a DVD of your vids) or to be projected (such as at a convention), you should know about Action Safe Lines and Title Safe lines.<br /><br />Televisions do not display the entirety of the frame. This is standard and accepted. Hollywood media is filmed/taped with the expectation that not everything at the edges will be seen--not that things at the edges shouldn't be clean, but that if something important is going on at the edge of the screen, it needs to be drawn in a little bit to make certain it will actually be seen.<br /><br />The "Action Safe" line is 10% into the frame (5% from each side). We're even more cautious about making sure text won't fall off the edge, so the "Title Safe" line is 20% into the frame (10% from each side). Professional editing software will display those guides for you--for example, in Final Cut, you can show the Action and Title Safe guides on the Canvas window by going to menu:View>Show Title Safe or by clicking the button on the top of the Canvas window that looks like the corners of a box and from the drop-down menu selecting Show Title Safe. "Title Safe" is not just a Final Cut term, it is an industry term, so if you have a searchable help menu for your editing software, you can search for it.<br /><br />If your software doesn't have a way to show the guides automatically, it's a fairly simple calculation. If your frame is, say 720x480, you want to make sure your text is at least 72px from the sides and 48px from the top and bottom. <br /><br />Here is an image of the Action Safe and Title Safe guides displayed on the Canvas window in Final Cut: <a name="cutid1"></a><br /><br /><img src="http://jmtorres.dreamhosters.com/images/titlesafe.jpg" height="688" width="962"><br /><br /><br />And that is how you position your credits to be certain they will be visible on television and at con.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1513861" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1511168traveling2010-08-06T01:02:59Z2010-08-06T01:02:59ZJohnny Walker, and his brothers Blue and Redpublic0Not off the ground yet. Still hanging out in Sky Harbor. Got felt up at security (I think they were checking to see if I was hiding something in my voluminous skirt), got dinner at Starbucks, watched vids on my nano for a while, now taking advantage of the free wireless. <br /><br />niq made it safely to Chicago before I ever left the house. While it was nice to have a day to make sure I had my crap together and freak out and have lunch together, I kind of wish I was <em>there</em> already. <br /><br />When I went to make up effects blood I discovered I had neither corn syrup nor food coloring in the house. That was about half an hour until my pick up for the airport so at that point I shrugged and said "Eh, I'll get it at the store in Chicago." I feel very silly for going through the trouble of finding a 3 oz container to carry it in, though. And also I feel like a crazy person, I could have SWORN the materials I got for a shoot last year were still around the house somewhere.<br /><br />I also realized I won't be able to clip or lay timeline on the plane unless there's an outlet by the seat I can plug Jenny (the new external hard drive) into, because while I have all the media I meant to bring on Jenny, and then some, I did not put any on the laptop. Oh well, I can listen to vidding songs on repeat on the nano (manual repeat; if there is a way to set it repeat a single song I have not figured it out). <br /><br />I'll be getting into Chicago around midnight, going straight to the room and falling down, I think. Or possibly hooking up Jenny and giving vidding a go. Who knows. <br /><br />The plane is here, most of the previous passengers have disembarked, so I think I'll close up the laptop and pay a little attention. <br /><br />In conclusion: CUPCAKES.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1511168" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1500916what the fuck?2010-07-10T04:07:35Z2010-07-10T05:06:48Zpublic1So I'm watching stuff on Free Bit and having a very odd issue: VLC gives me choppy audio UNLESS something else is running. If I'm, say, defragging the computer? Perfect audio. If VLC is the only thing running? Choppy. Currently trying to figure out what memory hog I can run in the background so I can watch my stories. Any idea what would cause this or how to fix it?<br /><br />ETA: So in order to watch videos properly I downloaded <a href="http://folding.stanford.edu/">Folding@Home</a>. I am amused.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1500916" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1498987Baby bit2010-07-06T20:41:19Z2010-07-06T20:41:19Zannoyedpublic8(fucking a'.)<br /><br />Baby Bit [my netbook, whose proper name is Free Bit from Lady Gaga's self-censored "I'm a free bit**, baby" lyric, but goes by Baby Bit much of the time because tiiiiny] seems... less inclined to randomly fade to white, or whatever the fuck she's doing [the exciting screen malfunction that made her unusable three weeks after purchase]. <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://echan.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://echan.dreamwidth.org/'><b>echan</b></a></span> declared it was a Windows problem not a hardware problem. No idea. Anyway, since she seemed like she was inclined to behave, I started loading shit back on.<br /><br />Added:<br />-AVG<br />-Firefox<br />--adblockplus<br />--add to search bar<br />--delicious bookmarks<br />--epubreader<br />--fireftp<br />--ljlogin<br />--noscript<br />--resurrect pages<br />--screengrab<br />-OpenOffice<br />-VLC<br /><br />Got me a pretty wallpaper and forced Bit to recognize the existence of my desktop computer and steal episodes from it. One by one I will drag Numb3rs over here for my traveling entertainment.<br /><br />Fade to white has occurred three times while I've been doing all that. First time was when I first abandoned her to download shit off the desktop computer over the wireless, because that looked like it was going to take forever. Baby Bit went to standby, screen dark, and when I jogged her back on, whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite. I glared some and fiddled with the power save settings to take stand-by out of the equation. I was hopeful for about five minutes. Then I got me some more fade to white, twice, roughly half a minute each time, in the half an hour I've been playing around since. <br /><br />I'm having to add everything back on because product support's big helpful suggestion to solve the problem was wipe everything, return to factory defaults. While I could pursue further support under warranty I am... kind of not impressed so far. Especially since they did not suggest I back anything up before taking that step. (I didn't lose anything irretrievable, but that is <em>bad support.</em>) If it is not a hardware problem, as <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://echan.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://echan.dreamwidth.org/'><b>echan</b></a></span> claims, then I feel like either I or one of the more technically proficient people I know should be able to solve it with poking, and leave support out of the equation. <br /><br />The fade to white phenomenon--as best I can describe it, the screen holds images longer than it should, so everything seems brighter as static images are reinforced; the mouse leaves trails and is easiest to follow if you move it very sloooowly; paging down when reading something results in a fade to the next page of text; and when typing in a text box like oh say the post entry page, the letters will come up as fast as you type them but will have a vertical line between each, as the screen remembers each iteration of the cursor. Presently this phenomenon is intermittent and brief; my last go-round back in May, it got longer-lasting until it seemed permanent. <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://jetpack-monkey.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://jetpack-monkey.dreamwidth.org/'><b>jetpack_monkey</b></a></span> suggested it was a heat-related phenomenon (boo hardware) but I do not think that can be so as it would occur when the computer had been hibernating or just plain off for hours or days. <br /><br />So. Anybody got thoughts on my Free Bit, baby? What could cause my problem? What could solve it? Does it have a more recognizable name than "fade to white" that I could google?<br /><br />--And as I finish up this post I'm getting a more sustained instance of the phenomenon; it's been about ten minutes now that it's stayed, and Bit's had some flashy moments where fade to white and regular view seemed to be duking it out. Flashy with a lot of horizontal lines across the screen. Fade to white seems to be winning. And oh look, finally just now I got her back. Through nothing I can tell that *I* did.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1498987" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1494180HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA FLY BE FREE2010-06-26T03:32:00Z2010-06-26T03:32:00Zpublic3I am outputting an m2v right now.<br /><br />I... am going to turn in a vividcon vid <em>on time</em>.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1494180" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1493563Help?2010-06-25T07:27:42Z2010-06-25T07:28:15Zpublic15So, question, if one wanted to post a daily digest of one's delicious links to dreamwidth, how would one do that?<br /><br />(I went googling and found delicious glue, which as far as I can tell, <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='http://nounverb.livejournal.com/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif' alt='[livejournal.com profile] ' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' width='17' height='17'/></a><a href='http://nounverb.livejournal.com/'><b>nounverb</b></a></span>'s original and updated links are no longer active, and I found a copy altered by a fan but as I read through it I realized I had no idea if it would work for dreamwidth as opposed to livejournal or how to make it do so.)<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1493563" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1489217Whoops2010-06-16T08:04:50Z2010-06-16T09:35:51Zpublic6So apparently FCP handles mp3s poorly; I went back to check in iTunes and QT to see if this audio track had as many blips as it did in FCP and the answer was "no, no it does not." So I made an AIFF out of the mp3 in QT and swapped out the source file in FCP and magically, all the weird blippy vaguely-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipping_%28audio%29">clipping</a>-but-in-an-analogue-magnetic-tape-sounding-way,-and-even-though-the-decibels-never-went-above-negative-5-or-so went away! Yay! <br /><br />Except that I realized I may have been vidding a clip or two to artificially introduced noise. There's one in particular that... well, I'm considering adding a sound effect. *headdesk*<br /><br />When I said I picked this recording of the song for the cheese factor...<br /><br />eta: *starts examining sound effects* oooh. Maybe this needs more cowbell.<br /><br />eta2: Every time I go hunting through audio loops I discover I love the dorkitude that went into these more than... than <em>sleep</em>. I swear this one is called 'electronic surge' because 'lightsaber hum' would get them sued.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1489217" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1488987interesting2010-06-16T06:55:36Z2010-06-16T07:10:12Zpublic0I'm running range check on this vid right now (which makes sure that data isn't too bright or saturated for television; if it is, you dump Broadcast Safe filter on it and it clamps the relevant above max data). Now, normally stuff you get that's been on TV? <em>Passes range check</em>. And only stuff you've fucked around with fails. And furthermore I'm vidding Supernatural; if there was a "your footage is too dark, no one will be able to see jack shit" check, I would expect it to go off every four frames. (There is not. Even though it is actually possible to have blacks blacker than broadcast black. Go figure.)<br /><br />However, it would appear Supernatural fucks around at the edge of range a lot. So far, things that have set off the meter:<br /><br />--the burning light of SATAN<br />--Sam killing Alistair<br />--Sam killing Lilith<br />--gunfire<br />--Colt bullets burning out demons<br />--backlighting through venetian blinds<br />--things Sam sees in visions<br />--the COVERS of CHUCK'S BOOKS (seriously what)<br />--candles<br /><br />PS Sam was like, two feet from Daddy Azazel when he shot him in the leg. There should not be a three-frame time gap between him firing and Azazel being hit. Just saying.<br /><br />ETA: Relevant Bruce the Yak quote: <em>What's the sound of one luma clamping?</em><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1488987" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1477109I think my misanthropy is totally legitimate2010-06-01T08:41:51Z2010-06-01T08:47:59Zpublic0Class starts tomorrow. Tomorrow's a long work day that starts four hours early. I need to call tech support back. <br /><br />Vividcon rollover date's not until July 1, which means I probably won't know if I'm off waitlist until after premieres deadline.<br /><br />ETA: note to self, want to go into town this weekend for more books, including 364.163. <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://echan.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://echan.dreamwidth.org/'><b>echan</b></a></span>? <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://jetpack-monkey.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://jetpack-monkey.dreamwidth.org/'><b>jetpack_monkey</b></a></span>? You mind if I come by?<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1477109" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1465697What the hell2010-05-12T19:34:05Z2010-05-12T19:34:05Zpublic1I've had Free Bit like, three weeks and she's having weird screen issues.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1465697" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1458716New toy2010-04-25T05:22:05Z2010-04-25T05:22:05Zpublic12Bought a netbook, named her Free Bit. Typing on her now. I can tell it's going to be the punctuation that does me in here, I keep hitting the slash when I am for the period/ (case in point). I guess I'll train myself eventually. I can find the backspace intuitively which is better than pretty much every other netbook keyboard I tried. <br /><br />Anyway, this is the first time I have actually owned a windows system, ever, so: any recs for AIM and IRC clients? Trying to think what else I want--have already downloaded Firefox, need to get some add-ons for it, setting up AVG now, I figure I'll head to openoffice for my doc needs, and other than that, I can't think what else I'll be using little baby Bit for.<br /><br />Got rear-ended in the parking lot of the electronics store, because pick-up truck drivers are asshats who can't see behind them and ignore honking horns. So I have a ding in my bumper. <a name="cutid1"></a>I have the strangest feeling it wouldn't have happened if I weren't a universe sideways from Loki right now, and I find myself feeling a little naked without his protection.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1458716" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1425447Save early, save often2010-02-07T12:07:40Z2010-06-16T07:05:13Za nautical bruce willisinstructionalpublic23The following is not so much vidding advice as general video editing advice. These were taught to me as good practices for ensuring that no matter what wacky thing you do to your project, you have back-ups.<br /><br />Caveat: I work in Final Cut Pro; to my understanding Avid and Premiere run on similar principles, but all my menu/keystroke instructions will be for FCP.<br /><br /><a name="cutid1"></a><br /><br />Background explanation of how Final Cut files work: a FCP project file does not contain any media. If you capture media via Final Cut, Final Cut will make a folder somewhere to store it (on whatever you have set as the scratch disk, which you can do in Menu: Final Cut Pro > System Settings > tab: Scratch Disks). (Capturing media is something that is probably only relevant to you if your source is on VHS and you are digitizing it. If you are working in digital files, you probably did not capture them, you imported them. My preferred method of importing media files is drag-and-drop from the Finder to an appropriately named bin in the Browser window.) But the project file itself contains no media, only pointers to media. <br /><br />This has several implications. They include:<br /><ul><li>If you ever reorganize or rename media files and then subsequently open Final Cut to vid, Final Cut will say OH NO WHERE IS THE MEDIA. <em>Don't</em> check "forget files" in this circumstance (I honestly don't know why that option is offered, jfc), instead use the "Reconnect Files" dialogue box. (You can also ctrl-click on the slashed-through icons of offline media files to get to the "Reconnect Files" dialogue box.)</li><br /><li>If you are using a set of media files that is in some way standardized (a direct rip of the .vob files off a DVD or a common season pack from the webs) and something catastrophic happens to the drive you store media on and you lose the files, you can re-acquire them and tell Final Cut "here they are! Reconnect!"</li><br /><li>Conversely, if you make unique, custom media files like short .dv clips of just the bits you plan to use--if catastrophic drive failure wipes those out, you are kind of screwed. Which is why I emphatically do not recommend pre-clipping in another program. I know a lot of people do this so that they have clips in a codec/format that when they drop them on the timeline, they do not have to render. If you work in the standardized, reacquirable files like .avi or .vob sources in Final Cut, you will always have to render clips when you put them on the timeline because their compression does not lend itself to being chopped in bits. But I find hitting apple-R every time I drop a clip on the timeline not that big a deal, compared to file recoverability.</li><br /><li>This is slightly outside the realm of making sure you're backed up, but an interesting use of the way Final Cut is set up: if you upgrade your files, say, you're remastering from tvrips to dvdrips, you can ctrl-click media files in the Browser to make them offline, and then reconnect them to new files. This is rarely if ever a painless process, starting with FCP will complain if any aspects of the file are different (frame size, frame rate, length, aspect ratio, etc) and ending with any timing differences, such as imperfect commercial cut in tvrip different from dvdrip, will mean twiddling all your clips to correct. But this definitely cuts down the clip-hunting stage of remastering, and is a very good reason to hold onto your old project files if you think you might remaster.</li><br /><li>The FCP project file is usually a few hundred KB or a couple of MB, not hundreds or thousands of megs of media. The largest FCP project file I have ever caused is 6.7MB. This is small enough to back up on a thumb drive. And you should. If you make sure all your media files are either re-rippable or re-downloadable, the project file is the only unique thing you have to protect.</li><br /></ul><br /><br />Related to this last point, Final Cut makes regular back-ups of your project file. You can set how often and how many copies it keeps in Menu: Final Cut Pro > User Preferences > tab: General, in the bottom left of the dialogue box, "Autosave Vault settings." Mine is set to save every half hour, and keep forty copies, so the last twenty hours of my work are backed up in this manner. (Also on that dialogue box, top left, is Levels of Undo. Mine is set to the max, which is 99. Everyone: apple-Z is <em>your friend</em>. If you've done something and you can't figure out what but everything on your timeline moved, omg, hit apple-Z until it's back before it got screwed up.)<br /><br />If you ever attempt to open a Final Cut project file and your computer tells you it is corrupted (this sometimes happens if Final Cut crashes on you), and the copy on your thumb drive isn't up to date (I'll admit it, I don't do that manual back-up as often as I should in vid farr), go back through copies in the Autosave Vault until you find one that's uncorrupted. Then promptly save it it a new location and use it as your primary project file. The Autosave Vault is a folder kept on your scratch disk (again, to set your scratch disk, use Menu: Final Cut Pro > System Settings > tab: Scratch Disks). <br /><br />Because of the Autosave function, it is wise to save and name your project before you do anything else. Well, in general that's a good idea, but the Autosave Function means that if you don't save and name your file first thing, you will end up with a bunch of project back-ups named Untitled, which is singularly unhelpful.<br /><br />It is also a good practice to back up sequences within a project. I was taught to make a bin in every project entitled "Archive sequences" and every time I took a food break, sleep break, fic break, whatever, make a copy of the sequence I was working on and put the copy in the archive bin. To do this: in the Browser window, ctrl-click the sequence you have been working and select "Duplicate." If your sequence is named, for instance, "PiscoBandito," a new sequence will appear in the Browswer named "PiscoBandito Copy." Rename the copy with a date/time string (or whatever identifier works best for you--date/time string is really ingrained with me; I just renamed my copy "PiscoBandito 201002070459") and drag-and-drop this duplicate sequence to your archive bin. (In addition to doing this whenever I am going to walk away from Final Cut, I also do this if I want to try a section a couple of different ways and have record of the experiments to decide between.) If you keep up with this practice, you will have a record of your work spanning the entirety of the project, not just the last however many hours in Autosave Vault. If you suspect some clips have subtly moved down the timeline when you weren't looking, you can look in your project archive bin and compare.<br /><br />And of course, <em>save early, save often.</em> Don't rely on the Autosave Vault--if you get in the groove, a lot can happen in half an hour. I practically do it once a minute. Drop clip on timeline, apple-S, apple-R, that's me.<br /><br /><br />That's all I know about backing up your project files and sequences. I was thinking of doing another entry about my workflow, which of course is not the only way to do it but hey, I might know a few useful tricks?<br /><br />Let me know if you've got any questions, about this entry or about Final Cut in general.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1425447" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-04-07:15978:1349087I am far more sanguine than I would otherwise be2009-06-26T00:18:30Z2009-06-26T00:18:30Zpublic4Bran (the first media drive I had, which is now the traveling slut drive and four years old) had <em>another</em> breakdown. One of the pins on the power connection was bent and broke when <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://nshoe.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://nshoe.dreamwidth.org/'><b>nshoe</b></a></span> tried to straighten it. However, <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://nshoe.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://nshoe.dreamwidth.org/'><b>nshoe</b></a></span> put Bran's brains in another enclosure! This will be zir third. It's temporary and involves tape. <br /><br />Can haz Bran via USB now, at least. I have heart for <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://nshoe.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://nshoe.dreamwidth.org/'><b>nshoe</b></a></span>.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=jmtorres&ditemid=1349087" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments